Electronics is part of our everyday lives. From the gadgets in our homes and the cars we drive to the medical electronics that save lives and the semiconductors that make the world go around. In a market where consumers demand reliable and safe products, manufacturers need to focus on the many screws and often invisible bonds holding everything together.
Getting it right from the first to the last screw
Screws are an essential component in manufacturing because of their ability to be a reliable and efficient way to hold objects together securely. In electronics, precision is everything, and accurate screw tightening plays a crucial role in maintaining cost-efficiency and quality. Even though electronic devices are getting smaller, the quantity of screws used remains high. For example, an average smartphone that nicely fits in the palm of a human hand, despite its size can still contain up to 70 screws. The increased demand for electronics in everyday life and such numbers of screws drive complexity in electronics manufacturing and introduce certain challenges.
Diverse world of
electronics assembly challenges!
electronics assembly challenges!
Product Complexity
Heavy and complex production demands often compel factories to source components from multiple suppliers, leading to friction variations that can impact the final product’s torque and clamp force
Screwdriver Technology
As material complexity increases, selecting the appropriate screwdriver technology becomes even more crucial. This decision involves choosing between traditional clutch tools, current-controlled tools, or advanced transducerized tools for the task at hand
Tightening Strategy
Traditional tightening methods like target torque and torque & angle control perform well when materials are consistent. However, in real-world complex production environments, a more reliable approach focusing on clamp torque is needed to guarantee consistency
Manual vs Automated Station
Complex production often sparks the debate between manual and automated processes. Regardless of the choice, the key challenge stays the same - maintaining precise process control throughout the tightening process
Consumer electronics
Everyday gadgets like smartphones, laptops, TVs, and gaming consoles, shape our modern lives. Their production thrives on rapid innovation, enhancing processing power, displays, and connectivity for sleek designs and cutting-edge features. To keep pace, assembly solutions must be both efficient and adaptive. Our smart tightening strategies with a focus on actual clamp torque, boost productivity, improve product quality, and cut production costs. Furthermore, the Atlas Copco ecosystem facilitates complete traceability throughout the production process, whether using handheld or automated tools.
Semiconductors
Semiconductor manufacturing requires precise design, fabrication, and assembly of electronic components. Silicon used for semiconductor production is extremely sensitive to contaminants, therefore, fabrication plants feature state-of-the-art machinery and cleanroom environments to ensure precision and quality. These machines require delicate maintenance, which is difficult to achieve using manual torque wrenches. Atlas Copco provides advanced, ergonomic tightening solutions, enhancing maintenance speed and quality while reducing operator strain.
Medical electronics
Medical devices, from MRI machines to pacemakers, are crucial for precise healthcare, aiding in diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring. Integrated sensors and wearables offer accessible insights, empowering quick decisions by healthcare professionals. However, device malfunctions can directly impact a person's health.
Atlas Copco's smart tightening strategies focus on monitoring clamp torque to address material inconsistencies. Moreover, our ecosystem ensures full production traceability, whether using handheld or automated tools. These solutions together ensure the highest quality standards for safety-critical medical devices, protecting human life in the highly regulated medical device market.
Vehicle electronics
Modern vehicles are packed with sophisticated electronics that handle safety, entertainment, performance, and efficiency systems, including ECUs, ABS, airbags, navigation, and more.
With a future focused on autonomous driving, vehicle-infrastructure communication, and electrification, the demand for complex and reliable electronic systems is growing, leaving no room for compromises on quality. Precision and advanced tightening strategies are essential. Atlas Copco's smart tightening strategies ensure accurate clamp torque application, meeting the highest production quality standards. Additionally, our ecosystem enables full production process traceability, whether using handheld or automated tools.
Smart Tightening Strategies – more than just torque and angle
Shifting the focus to clamp torque rather than target torque ensures consistency across parts, even in the presence of friction variations, meeting all high-quality standards in the manufacturing process.
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Automation addresses complexity
Automation eliminates operator influence on the tightening process and allows for the greatest level of control which improves quality, and efficiency and reduces costs caused by reworks and recalls. It enables the desired level of quality right from the very start and throughout the production process.
Our portfolio of smart automated systems for tightening reduces the risk of downtime caused by inadequate tightening quality or human error.
The Atlas Copco roadmap to Smarter Manufacturing
Smart Integrated Assembly is our concept for industrial manufacturers looking to transform and implement Smart Factories. It encompasses our ecosystem of tools, hardware, software and services solutions providing unrivalled competitive value in each step of the customers’ product manufacturing cycles. The result is more efficient, flexible, adaptable, and safe manufacturing processes that support reduced downtime, better use of materials and energy, and a substantial waste reduction.
With the challenges faced by many electronics manufacturers, we have the solutions to help you turn up the heat on your competitors.
Vehicle electronics
Thermal materials prevent overheating, while potting and sealing protect vehicle electronics from dust and stress
Aerospace electronics
Reliable potting, bonding, and sealing processes ensure durable, reproducible protection for aerospace components
Medical electronics
Durable protective materials safeguard delicate, high density components without compromising performance or signal quality.
(Humanoid) Robotics
Highly accurate dispensing of fluids safeguard sensors, processors, actuators, PCBs, AI hardware and more.
Energy
Reliable vacuum potting protects IGBTs e.g. in wind turbines, maintaining consistent performance under demanding load conditions.
General Industry
Sealing, bonding and potting ensure reliable operation of industrial lenses, sensors, converters and other sensitive electronics.
Protecting electronic components
Wearables, connected cars, and smart homes define our digital future - driven by controllers, sensors, and processors. These components are themselves subject to a basic transformation process: "Smaller, lighter, more powerful" is the motto, including ever shorter life cycles at the same time. The combination of high quality process and systems technology and innovative materials is the key to your success.
Protecting PCBs
Things would not be the same today without them. The PCB (or circuit board) is the most frequently used carrier and connecting component for electronic components PCBs are used not only in computers, cars, and airplanes but also in household appliances and communication systems, in security electronics as well as in medical devices.
For electronics to operate reliably over time, the sensitive components on the PCB must be safeguarded against moisture, dirt, impact, chemicals, and other external threats. Conformal coating provides this protection by applying a thin layer of casting resin or protective finish to the PCB surface.
Protecting sensors
Significantly larger numbers of sensors and ECUs are being installed in vehicles today. Since faults in this area can cost lives, the sensitive electronics must have lasting protection against damaging thermal, mechanical and chemical influences. This is where precise, high quality adhesive bonding, dispensing and potting processes come into play.
Protecting transformers
Electromagnetic coils are used in the automotive industry as well as in the manufacture of household appliances and in the aerospace industry. Suitable vacuum impregnation and encapsulation processes help protect the electromagnetic coils from corrosion and improve their electrical and mechanical properties.
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FAQ about electronics dispensing
How can I make sure my electronics deliver long term system reliability under stress?
You can ensure long‑term reliability by dispensing & potting applications that take over multiple structural and functional tasks at once. They protect sensitive electronics from moisture and vibration while also dissipating heat, helping components stay stable even under demanding conditions.
How can electronic components be protected against envrionmental influences?
Applying potting and encapsulation materials is the ideal way to protect electronic components from external influences such as dust, moisture and mechanical stress.
Potting involves completely embedding components in a protective layer of low-viscosity compounds made of PU, epoxy or silicone Complex component geometries usually require vacuum potting to ensure there are no bubbles. Other factors such as viscosity, temperature and filler loading are important if high-quality potting results are to be achieved
Encapsulation is all about ensuring electrical contact points and solder connections are all fully covered. The different viscosities of the materials used call for a coordinated processing and feeding system that can be specifically adapted to those viscosities.
What are the advantages of using liquid heat‑conducting materials for thermal management in electronics?
Compared to solid, stamped pads or film for dissipating heat, thermally conductive fluids make it possible to apply custom contours onto the component. During the assembly process, the fluid materials such as gap fillers or thermally conductive adhesives flexibly adapt to the particular substrate surface. Particularly sensitive electrical components are thus less exposed to assembly stress, dramatically reducing the risk of defective goods. Reduced storage costs as well as reduced or even entirely eliminated handling and assembly costs are additional advantages.
Which dispensing and potting materials can be processed?
Our dispensing systems are designed to reliably process a wide range of potting and adhesive materials used in electronics and industrial applications. These include:
- Epoxy resins
- Polyurethanes (PU)
- Silicones
- Acrylates
- Thermally conductive pastes
- Single-component (1K) and two-component (2K) materials
To ensure optimal results, material properties such as flow behavior, temperature sensitivity, and dispensing performance are taken into account. In close cooperation with leading material manufacturers, we continuously test and qualify new materials to offer compatible, efficient, and application-specific solutions.
Visit our Innovation Centers for hands-on testing and expert guidance